Pumpkin Patch
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| From Pumpkin Patch |
Amy, Lauren and I took the kids to the arboretum for a picnic and to take pictures in the pumpkin patch. We had so much fun and I was really happy with our pictures. I took over 200 and posted the best 40-50< on my web album which you can see by clicking here:
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| From Pumpkin Patch |
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| From Pumpkin Patch |
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| From Pumpkin Patch |
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| From Pumpkin Patch |
I prefer toes
Yummy!
This morning I had a rather unsuccessful attempt at feeding Katherine rice cereal and sweet potatoes. She still does not really care for solid food. We obviously are still trying because she can’t eat from mama forever, but it does get frustrating as it takes a lot of effort with not great results. Today after she finished eating, I left her in the high chair as I was cleaning up. As I came back around into the breakfast room, I saw that Katherine actually did want to eat, but what she wanted to eat were her toes!
We are starting 2 a days and so we did have better luck tonight. She ate a pretty decent serving of bananas and peas (yes, Uncle Will, peas).
Bad Hair Day
Katherine may not be close to pony tails yet, but she woke up today and her hair was messed up. This is a huge deal because she is a girl with very little hair. The fact that it is long enough to stick up is a milestone. Maybe she will be ready for her barretts and clips before long.
Uh Oh!
This is how I found Katherine today when she woke up from her nap. Sam’s first priority when he got home was to lower the crib. Didn’t we just do that? I cannot believe that she is pulling up on things. She pulled up to her activity table and stood there so content for about 10 minutes. When I came up next to her to sit I could tell she was relieved to finally be able to sit down. I guess she stood for so long because she did not know how to sit without crashing.
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| From September |
Boston in the Fall
Boston Harbor
Actually, the title is from one of the Veggie Tales songs from days long ago. But, we just got back from a trip to Boston in the fall which is why there has been a serious shortage of posts lately.
My parents had a business trip and invited us to go with them. The great thing was we upgraded the room the company got for them so that we had a suite at the Four Seasons. It was a pretty nice place. We told Katherine that she could not get used to that kind of vacation because we do not usually stay in places like that. They provided a crib with cute bedding though it was kind of jail cell looking. They also provided a baby welcome basket with diapers, wipes, travel soaps and lotions and a teddy bear. We did comment though how it is amazing how a really expensive hotel like that seems to nickel and dime you on every little service. You would think that a room that costs over 0 a night (the company paid remember) you would get free internet access. No, it cost a day to use the wireless keyboard and the TV internet. So, no email for us.
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| From Boston |
Our hotel was right across from the Boston Public Garden which is really pretty. We walked around there thre first afternoon and we would cut through from time to time when going other places. I love the weeping willows and the swans on the lake.
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| From Boston |
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| From Boston |
On Friday Sam, Katherine and I walked the freedom trail from the beginning in Boston Common to Quincy Market, though we ventured off on the African American Freedom trail and to look at some cool old neighborhoods as well.
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| From Boston |
Boston is a great city for walking, but not really for walking with a stroller. The sidewalks are mostly cobblestone and since the buildings are all old, many do not have wheelchair ramps. The worst was the subway. Only about a fourth of the stations had elevators. We did not ride the subway often, so when we did, we would put Katherine in the front carrier and carry the stroller which folds up and has a shoulder strap. It was doable for two healthy adults, but what would you do if you really were disabled in this city.
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| From Boston |
Friday night mom and dad had a fancy dinner at Fenway park so we were on our own. We decided to go on a sunset harbor cruise. It was really nice, Katherine’s first boat ride. We were able to see the harbor, the downtown skyline, lots of sailboats and the USS Constitution. Sam loves sailing so he loved it.
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| From Boston |
Saturday mom watched Katherine so that Sam and I could have some date time. We walked around the area by our hotel which has a lot of mansions and shopping. We had a great brunch, explored the Boston Public Library which is like a museum and we saw a few churches.
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| From Boston |
That afternoon Sam and Dad went across to visit Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution or Old Ironsides. Mom, Katherine and I went to the aquarium which was way to crowded and we shopped in Quincy market. That night we went to my mom’s cousins house outside of town for dinner.
Sunday we went to a church service at a church that has a professional orchestra and choir perform a Bach cantata every week. It was pretty. Then we went to MIT to their museum. It was actually a very interesting museum.
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| From Boston |
We had a very fun trip. Katherine did great on the plane, sleeping most of both ways. She is a very flexible baby and was able to nap just about anywhere.
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| From Boston |
7 months
Katherine, you are getting so big. I cannot believe that you are already 7 months old. Every month is so much more fun than the one before. I wonder if it will always be like this?
You have changed so much this month. Every day it seems that you get better at what you are able to do. You are now able to crawl all over the place. It was pretty fun to watch you as you learned that skill. First it was rocking back and forth and trying to move one arm, but crashing on your face, then you could scoot a little. Now you can pretty much crawl wherever you want to go. That has been your biggest change because no longer can I leave you anywhere to go in the next room because you get frustrated and try to crawl after me.
You are so full of expression. You are able to convey so many emotions now. You have so much fun playing with your toys and love to talk to the bugs that are hanging on the car seat bar.
You really love your puppy. You think it is funny when she licks you, especially your feet because it tickles.
You are still not very excited about eating solid foods. Nana gives mommy a hard time because sometimes I will skip a day of even trying. You don’t care, but you do need to learn to eat sometime. I can’t feed you forever.
You kept busy this month as usual with playgroups and playdates, trips to the mall and out to eat, visiting family and friends. You even went on another trip on the airplane to Boston.
I can’t wait to see what the next month will bring.
By the way, the monthly chair picture is a little different this month because we were in Boston. Thus, the yellow chair and the green, Four Seasons teddy bear. Also, it is getting harder to take a good picture. All Katherine wants to do is eat the sign, not display it.
Name change
You will notice that the name of our blog and the web address have changed. If you had us bookmarked, it should still work and if you type in the old address, it should get you here.
What does the name “Pipandsqeak” mean? Well, when we found out we were pregnant with Katherine, we started calliing her “Pip” rather than “it” or “the baby”. We did not want to name our site only after Katherine because when we have #2 we don’t want them to feel left out. So we decided that #2 will be called “squeak”.
When I looked up pipandsqueak on the internet to see what popped up, I found that there was a cartoon during WW2 with three animals, Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. Pretty cute.
For those of you wondering, no, this is not an announcement that there is a #2 on the way. We are not quite ready for that yet.
The simple things
Checking out Hooligan
I am amazed at Katherine’s curiousity. She is interested in everything. It is so fun to hand her something new to investigate. Today Sam was playing with one of her toys, hiding it behind his leg. She would look for it. When she was in her exersaucer, she would lean over to look at Hooligan. She can play for a long time with a piece of paper, the remote or her spoon.
Today Katherine got to play for the first time with a new toy that I bought at a consignement sale. It is an activity table with all kinds of fun things on top that play music and say things like letters, numbers, chapes and colors when you press them. She really enjoys it and it encourages her to stand. Her eyes were wide with curiosity. When I was done holding her and sat her dwon beside the table, she was just as interested and curious about the fringe on the rug. Remind me again why my den is full of toys?
Whose toy is whose?
Warning - pediatricians, vets, and especially grandparents who worry should not read this post.
We have wondered how it would work with a floor full of toys - both Katherine’s toys and Hooligan’s toys. Honestly, I have been amazed that Hooligan has not eaten all of Katherine’s toys because as a puppy she destroyed anything soft or stuffed.
Well, yesterday Katherine had her first toy casualty. I came into the den and found this.
Yes, right beside a wonderful bone, was a pile of yellow foam. You probably cannot tell what this toy was. We have a set of foam letters and numbers for the bathtub. Katherine loves to chew on them. She is not in the big bathtub yet (it saves my back to bathe her on the counter). When she is, these letters stick to the wall. I thought it would be great fun to spell all kinds of things. Now we will be spelling only words that do not contain the letter “C” because that is the one that Hooligan chewed.
Not to be outdone, our new crawling daughter decided to go across the floor, passing by her own wonderful toys to find Hooligan’s “kong”. Luckily we were right there and caught it before it made it all the way into her mouth.
It’s official
We have a crawler. It is time for some serious baby proofing around the house. I am amazed at how quickly she moved from trying to crawl to being all over the place. She is not very fast, but she can go pretty much wherever she wants. Here are a few funny stories about her new mobility.
Thursday when I hopped in the shower I put Katherine on the floor of our bedroom with some toys like I always do. I heard her fussing so I started talking to her as I finished up the shower. When I got out, she was in the doorway to the bathroom.
When we were at Lynette’s house on Friday I put Katherine on the floor by the coffee table. She heard their dog, Picadilly in her crate. In no time at all she had crawled around the couch and was nose to nose with a very hyper and excited dog.
Today I put her on the carpet in her room, put a few toys down there, put up the baby gate to keep out Hooligan and went to the car to grab the toys I bought at a consignment store yesterday. When I came back to her room about 90 seconds later, she was in the doorway, looking at Hooligan through the baby gate.
This is a whole new phase but she is so much fun. Today she played on the bed while I was sitting there working on the computer and watching TV. We had so much fun just looking at each other, saying babababa and climbing all over mommy. Obviously I did not get much done on the computer.